AEG, owner of L.A. Kings, off the market

elsewhere in business news

Updated 7:44 pm, Thursday, March 14, 2013

People crowd into a New York health care job fair Thursday, when the number of people seeking jobless benefits hit the second-lowest level in five years.

People crowd into a New York health care job fair Thursday, when the number of people seeking jobless benefits hit the second-lowest level in five years.

Photo: Mark Lennihan, Associated Press

Image 2 of 3

Philip Anschutz, owner of AEG, said the sports and entertainment company is no longer for sale.

Philip Anschutz, owner of AEG, said the sports and entertainment company is no longer for sale.

Photo: Elaine Thompson, Associated Press

Image 3 of 3

CEO Thorsten Heins holds the BlackBerry 10 in January. A client has ordered 1 million of them.

CEO Thorsten Heins holds the BlackBerry 10 in January. A client has ordered 1 million of them.

Photo: Mark Lennihan, Associated Press

AEG, owner of L.A. Kings, off the market

1 / 3

Back to Gallery

sports

AEG pulled off the market

AEG, the company that owns the NHL's Los Angeles Kings and the Staples Center, is no longer for sale, its billionaire owner, Philip Anschutz, said Thursday. The announcement came amid efforts by the company to build a downtown stadium to lure an NFL team back to Los Angeles.

Anschutz said in a statement that he had made it clear that he wouldn't sell the AEG sports and entertainment company unless the right buyer came forward. "They wanted more than what people were willing to pay," said Paul Swangard, managing director of the Warsaw Sports Marketing Center at the University of Oregon. "I just feel as though there's still differences of opinion about how valuable AEG is."

Latest business videos

It wasn't clear how far along the company had been in the sale process or how the move might affect its plans to build the proposed 72,000-seat Farmer's Field football stadium. The sale of the sports and entertainment company had been expected to fetch billions of dollars.

Mortgages

30-year rates at 6-month high

U.S. mortgage rates for 30-year loans rose to a six-month high after stronger-than-expected employment growth drove up yields for the government securities that guide home loans. The average rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage was 3.63 percent in the week that ended Thursday, up from 3.52 percent and the highest level since late August. The average rate on a 15-year loan climbed to 2.79 percent from 2.76 percent.

The 10-year Treasury yield reached an 11-month high last Friday, after the Labor Department said employers added 236,000 workers in February, more than economists projected, and the jobless rate fell to 7.7 percent. The property market is recovering from a five-year slump as job gains and low interest rates fuel demand.

Unemployment

Fewer people apply for aid

The number of people who applied last week for new unemployment benefits fell to the second-lowest level in five years, perhaps reflecting the improving U.S. labor market. Initial jobless claims fell by 10,000 to a seasonally adjusted 332,000 in the week that ended Saturday, the Labor Department said Thursday.

The only reading that's been lower in the past five years occurred in mid-January, but that number was distorted by post-holiday layoffs and other unusual seasonal factors. The latest claims report did not include any unusual factors, an official said.

The average of new claims over the past month, which smooths out weekly volatility, declined by 2,750 to 346,750, the department said. That's the lowest level in five years.

The economy has added an average of more than 200,000 jobs a month the past four months, a sharp acceleration from last summer. And other economic reports suggest businesses are more willing to hire.

solar energy

Installations up 76% nationwide

Solar power's spread across the country accelerated at a stunning clip last year, with installations up 76 percent, according to an annual report released Thursday. Enticed by plunging prices, American households, businesses and utility companies installed enough photovoltaic solar systems in 2012 to generate up to 3.3 gigawatts of electricity, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association and GTM Research.

One-third of those systems were in California, which became the first state ever to add more than a gigawatt of solar in a single year. That's like plugging one new nuclear reactor into the state's electricity grid.

Five years ago, the amount of solar power added nationwide totaled just 298 megawatts, or 0.298 gigawatts. In other words, America installed more than 10 times as much solar in 2012 as it did in 2008. The entire country now has enough solar panels in place to generate up to 7.2 gigawatts of electricity.

GTM predicts installations will grow an additional 30 percent in 2013, adding another 4.3 gigawatts to the total.

mobile

Million-phone order for BB10

BlackBerry, the Canadian smartphone maker that rolled out a new lineup in January, said one of its "established partners" is buying 1 million BlackBerry 10 phones, the biggest order in the company's history. Krista Seggewiss, a spokeswoman for BlackBerry, declined to say who the buyer was or define what the company meant by an "established partner." BlackBerry works with corporate customers and government agencies, as well as all of the largest carriers in the U.S., its biggest single market.

BlackBerry, formerly known as Research In Motion Ltd., unveiled the BB10 lineup in January. The new phones, which run a redesigned operating system, are the linchpin of its comeback strategy. After pioneering the smartphone market, the company's global share has slipped to single digits amid competition from the Apple iPhone and phones running Google Android.

Latest from the SFGATE homepage:

Click below for the top news from around the Bay Area and beyond. Sign up for our newsletters to be the first to learn about breaking news and more. Go to 'Sign In' and 'Manage Profile' at the top of the page.